Welcome to Port Charles
by SueDizzle
Summary: -courtney nd jason were never married (but they were together at one point) - no sam in this fic - ric never kidnapped carly - ric nd liz are not married (lil camron is there tho)


Coleman knocked the penthouse door at something after eleven am. He and Carly had developed a weird sort of bond after he'd help her find her father, almost like a friendship. He had a fairly big favor to ask of her and he hopped that she'd agree to help him. She finally opened the door after what had seem like an eternity.

"Coleman, what are you doing here?" She asked sort of surprised to see him outside of a bar-room setting

"I need your help with something," he stated with a sence of unsurity in his voice

"Ok, well I'll try my best, what is it?" She made a motion with her hand for him to enter. After doing so he closed the door behind him and looked around the, what he thought to be, gaudy and unnecesserily large apartment.

"Is Sonny around?" He asked.

"No he's out of town on business or something," she said with a bit of curiosity

"Good. That's good," he said under his breath, "well listen, see when I saw you and your father reunite, or unite as it were, i felt like there were some things that I needed to take care of myself, like family things,"

"Alright coleman, what are you talking about?" She said sort of frustrated with the backstory

"Well kitten, I was just getting there. Well see, I have this kid, a daughter actually-"

"Oh my God, you have offspring?! How did that happen?" She said haif sarcastly half wondering who the hell would bare his child. Coleman silantly looked at her with a blank expression on his face as if to say 'are you done?'. Coleman turned his back to Carly and continued.

"Like I was saying, I have a daughter, named Paige. She's 20 years old and she lives in Boston,"

"Well, that's all very interesting Coleman, but where do I fit in to all of this?"

"I want her to come live in Port Charles, but she doesn't like me very much"

"Again, where do I fit in?"

"I want you to come up to Boston with me and get her to move back here. I thought maybe you could use that little schtick about how every daughter should have a father and how that relationship is so important, blah, blah, blah,"

"And what makes you so sure that she'll just pick-up and leave what she has in boston just because a father she probably never sees and some stranger think it would be a good idea?"

"I'm not, but I just figured that maybe it was worth the shot, ya know, when you went out looking for your father, you didn't know if it would turn out alright but it did. i just want that same oppertunity," Carly was floored by his openness and sincerity, but she didn't like the thought of another Coleman running around Port Charles, but still he was right and if there was a chance this could work they should take it.

"Alright Coleman, I'll do it," she said, regretting it instantly, "when do you want to go?"

"Our plane leaves in an hour"

"Are you ser-" she stopped herself short, afterall she already knew the answer to that question, "just give me a second to call courtney and get my stuff together"

"Take your time"

She paused in awe of what he just said to her, she wanted to say "You're damn right i'm gonna take my time! I'm doin you a favor!" but she restrained herself and continued up the stairs

About twenty minutes later Carly had the one bag she was bringing by the door and Coleman could hear Courtney telling Carly what a bad idea this was and how upset Sonny would be, but the more Courtney argued against it the more Carly wanted to go. She kissed the boys good bye and told them she'd be back the next day, two days at the most, picked up her bag and Coleman followed her out the door.

They finally arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston at a little after 3 in the afternoon. The two of them got into a cab that drove them directly to the hotel they were staying at. As the two made thier way up to the rooms Carly started to question if this was such a good idea, but shrugged it off considering they were already here. Coleman threw his bags in his room and walked over to Carly's, and again it took her forever to answer the door, it was almost like she was afraid of doorknobs, he thought to himself.

"You ready to go?" he asked as the door opened

"What? You're already prepared to do this?"

"Yeah, well, she might need some convincing and I don't want to waste any time. Let's go, i know the bar where she hangs out,"

"She's a Coleman alright," she said wryly, but she was tempted to just say forget it and go home but decided she needed a drink instead, "alright let's go"

They walked into the bar called 'Vital Signs', named as such because there was a hospital right across the street. As she looked around the bar she saw that it was a fairly small dive with a very 'locals only' vibe to it. they walked up to the bar and she watched as Coleman asked the bartender if her had seen Paige Coleman recently, the bartender said no, but told him that she usually came in around this time. Coleman nodded and thanked the man as he went to a table in the far right corner of the room. Carly grabbed the drink she'd ordered and paid the bartender before joining coleman. Just then his eyes shot to the door as a young looking girl walked in. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. she looked like she could be about 5'4 and 100lbs soaking wet, all in all she was a very attractive woman. "Is that her?" Carly asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah," he said, not taking his eyes off of her. They watcher as she walked over to the bar and gave the bartender her order, Carly thought it was kind of weird that he wouldn't ask for ID but shrugged it off deciding that everyone probably knew her well enough to trust her anyway.

Paige walked up to the bar and ordered her usual martini. She came in here almost every day because her best friend's husband, Tuck, worked behind the bar. Aside from him she didn't really associate with anyone else, she would just come in get her drink maybe shoot a couple of games of pool and then leave. She knew who everyone was and they all knew her but beyond that she had no real attachmen to this place. As Tuck brought her drink to her he leaned over the bar and whispered in her ear, "Someone was just in here looking for you,"

"Who?" She aked wondering who the hell would be looking for _her._ She hoped to God it wasn't her ex-boyfriend Michah. She couldn't stand the siight of him and lately he'd been trying with all his might to get her back in his life but she'd rejected him every time.

"I don't know, I've never seen him before, he was with some chick," he said nonchelantly

"Oh...well thanks for the heads up" she smiled at Tuck as he walked away. She looked around the room looking for anyone who she didn't recognize and in the last corner of the room her eyes met with her father's and suddenly she wished it _had_ been Michah looking for her.

She cringed at the thought of having to talk to him, but she knew she had to. She didn't hate him by any means it's not even that she didn't like him but she couldn't hepl but blame him for the life of pitfalls and disappointments she ahd led up to that point. She picked up her drink and slowly started to make her way over to their table.

"She's comming over here," coleman said calmly. Carly turned her head and smiled at his approaching kin. Paige flashed he a crooked smile and brushe the hair out of her face with her free hand.

"She seems nice enough," Carly said looking back at her company.

"Yeah, she's a sweetheart, but I'm sure she's not exactly thrilled to see me," he said glancing back a Carly. As she neared them he stood up and grabbed another chair from a neighboring table. Paige put her drink and her purse down on the table as Coleman came from behind her with a chair.

"I'm Paige Coleman," she said politely as she sat down.

"Carly Corinthos, it's very nice to finally meet you," Carly said as she reached out her hand to shake hers. Coleman was pleased that his daughter seemed to be in a good mood, so decided to try to make small talk before asking her to make the move to PC.

"So how have you been," he said awkwardly, "are you seeing anybody?" he knew he should have asked a more situation friendly question but that was just the first thing that popped into his head.

Paige just stared at him for a few seconds questioning whether she should answer him truthfully or tell him to shove it. While she was leaning twards the latter she decided that it wasn't her father's fault her was a complete moron so she humored him a little, "No, Dad, I'm not seeing anyone for the moment," she thought about asking him the same but decided that it was just a waste of time to ask a question you already know the answer to. "So how do you know my father?" she asked Carly in her most breezy tone.

"Your father and I are old friends," so she told a little half-truth, what harm could it do? "He helped me find my father,"

Coleman cleared his throat and began to stand up, "What do you ladies say we grab somthing to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," paige answered quickly. She was tired of pretending that nothing was wrong. "Why did you really come here, Dad? It can't just be to make small talk or get something to eat you could have done that back in Port Charles."

Coleman looked at Carly and knew that it was now or never, "No, I couldn't" he looked back over at Paige, "Look I know better that anyone that I haven't always been here for y--"

"You haven't always been here for me?!" and there it was, the outburst she didn't want to have but knew that she would, "why don't you try never! You've never been here for me!"

Coleman lowered his head before continuing, "I know, but that's why I came here, I want to be there for you, I want to be able to see you," he looked up so he could see the expression on her face, and saw that she had tears in her eyes, "I want you to come live in Port Charles." The tense look on Paige's face suddenly relaxed. She had no idea how to respond to this. She used to prey every night that he would come and take her away from this hell hole, but when it never happened she'd given up hope all together. She blinked the tears from her eyes and stood up from her chair.

"Excuse me," she said calmly, "I have to use the Ladies room," she quickly turned and headed tward the restrooms. she couldn't believe what was happening, she'd wanted this so badly for so long, but now she didn't know what she wanted.

Coleman looked at Carly as she stood up, "I'll go talk to her," she said, but she wasn't doing it for Coleman's sake, she was doing it for Paige's. Carly liked Paige, unlike most of the women she'd come in contact with over the years, and she didn't really know why. Paige was very well mannered and she seem to have morals which Carly guessed was the difference between her and everyone else.

Paige walked into small, two-stall bathroom and took a seat on the counter next to the sink, she leaned her head against the mirror and began to think about what would happen if she did decide to move to Port Charles. Where would she live? Probably with her father...perish the thought, she wouldn't know anyone there except for her old man and Carly, but then again she only had two friends here in Boston. Just then Carly entered the room and stood in front of one of the stalls that faced Paige. "Do you always hang out in crummy dive bars like this?" Carly asked, trying to make conversation.

"Well the bartender is a friend of mine, so I usually just come in for a drink and sit with him for a little bit before I go back out to work," she said with a slight smile. She liked Carly, she had no reason not to.

"So what _do _you do for a living?"

"well besides waitressing, I do what my father does" she said looking down

"Oh, so you make people crazy for a living," Carly said with a laugh.

Paige chuckled a little, "yeah, pretty much"

"So what do you think about moving to Port Charles?"

Paige looked down again, "I don't know. I honestly have no idea what to do," she looked up again, realizing that at the moment, Carly was the closest thing she had on hand to a friend, "what do you think I should do? And don't just tell me to do it because you're friends with my father,"

"Well honestly I think you would be a refreshing change to some of the lying, cheating, stealing, back stabbing scumbags that live there now"

"You really think it would be a good idea?" she asked as she jumped down from the counter.

"Yeah, I really do."

"Alright then. I guess I've got some packing to do." Paige said with a smile as they walked out of the bathroom and twards Coleman who was sitting at the same table but now had a beer in front of him. He stood up as they neared the table hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"Well? What do you think?" he was very anxious but he hoped it wasn't noticable.

"Ummm...where are you guys staying?" Coleman looked at her with a look of confusion. "I only ask because I'm going to need direction to Port Charles in the morning," She smiled, and suddenly the cofusion turned to utter joy as he pulled her into a hug, the hug, the hug she'd been waiting her whole life for. Carly was just as amazed, not because of Paige's decision, but because this was a side of Coleman she'd never seen before.


End file.
